Indian social activist Medha Patkar (R) shouts slogans against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) during a protest rally in Srinagar on Sunday.
Srinagar, Oct 18 : Around two dozen human rights activists from across the country started their march on Sunday from Srinagar to Manipur demanding revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).
The ten day long march has been named after 53 year old Irom Sharmila, a Manipuri human rights activist who launched her crusade against the act when Assam Rifles personnel killed ten civilians in Imphal on November 2, 2000. Sharmila has been on an indefinite fast for almost eleven years, demanding the repeal of AFSPA that gives unbridled powers to the armed forces.
The march led by social activist and Team Anna member Medha Patkar would pass through different states to generate awareness among the people about the act and the need for its revocation.
After visiting Hazratbal shrine in Downtown on Sunday evening, the marching activists started their rally from Lal Chowk in Uptown.
Patkar said that the AFSPA was an inhuman law that had no place in a civilized society. "There have been unlawful killings and disappearance cases in the places where this law is operational. We denounce all kinds of violence including the kind committed by army in Kashmir and other parts of the country," she added.
Medha said that the official interlocutors on Kashmir had also recommended revocation of AFSPA but the government had nothing so far to repeal it.
Human rights activist and Magsaysay award winner Sandeep Pandey said that the activists were ready to face the attacks for demanding revocation of the armed forces law. "We are ready to face the people like those who attacked Prashat Bhushan in New Delhi," Pandey told the gathering before leaving with the march. Pandey advocated that the people of Jammu and Kashmir should be given the right to decide their political fate.
However, Medha Patkar differed from this point of view. She said that the state should initiate a meaningful dialogue with the Kashmiri people to resolving Kashmir issue.
The caravan which would end its journey on October 27, 2011 after passing through ten states was joined by several Kashmiri human rights activists including chairperson of Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), Parveena Ahangar and Hurriyat separatist leader Zamrud Habib.
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